First Demonstration Against Pension Reform Since Adoption Taking Place In Paris

The first demonstration against the pension reform since its adoption is taking place in Paris, with thousands taking part in the protest, RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Thursday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2023) The first demonstration against the pension reform since its adoption is taking place in Paris, with thousands taking part in the protest, RIA Novosti correspondent reported on Thursday.

This is the ninth nationwide demonstration against the increase in retirement age led by French unions. French citizens are willing to continue their protests and repeat the success of 1995, when mass demonstrations forced the government to cancel the pension reform of then-Prime Minister Alain Juppe.

"We will not give up, this is just the beginning. Today, much more people and much more young people have come (to the demonstration). This reform is unfair, and Macron's interview yesterday showed that he is completely out of touch with reality, he cannot adopt a reform that is opposed by two-thirds of the population," one of the protesters told RIA Novosti.

A city council member from the Socialist Party, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that his party would initiate public consultations and a referendum on the reform, even if it was approved by the Constitutional Council.

The protest action started from the Place de la Bastille, the square where the Bastille prison once stood, and it should end at the Place de l'Opera, the opera square.

Demonstrators keep chanting slogans "We will fight for our pensions," "Macron, leave," and carrying posters, saying "We are not a democracy anymore.

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Around a hundred black bloc radicals were noticed among the protesters. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that 5,000 police officers were deployed to ensure security during the demonstration.

The demonstration takes place against the backdrop of a public transport workers strike: all but two lines of the Paris subway do not work at daytime, train traffic is disrupted, and some flights at the French capital's airport Orly have been canceled.

On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that the government had adopted a law on raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 by invoking Article 49.3 of the constitution, which allowed the bill to get passed without parliamentary approval. The decision sparked a strong backlash, prompting people to take to the streets across the country.

The opposition tried to prevent the adoption of the law on Monday through a vote of no confidence in the French government, but failed to secure an absolute majority in the parliament twice.

There have been several nationwide strikes and hundreds of demonstrations in France within the last two months, with over 1 million people taking part in most of them. During the protests, clashes often broke out between the police and the protesters.